Imagine you’re back in early 2021. You’re ready to start a new year with a new mindset, you go to watch the news, and you see it. The Capitol of the United States is being torn apart by a violent mob of people waving the Confederate flag, Trump 2020 flags, and even blue lives matter flags as they attack the officers who are bravely guarding the doors. 

This utter chaos was a reality about a year ago. In honor of those who lost their lives and were scarred by that day, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech on the one-year anniversary of the attack. 

Although he was justified, the president wasn’t properly addressing the situation. 

Last year, on January 6th, 2021, a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol. The mob was comprised of about 2,000 Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building to stop Congress from finalizing the results of the 2020 election. 

The rioters injured over 100 police in their attack and ransacked the inside of the building. Congress members were forced to hide in their bunkers or offices.  

Donald Trump sat at a rally only a mile away and encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol and fight so they could have their country back. Indicating Trump’s mindset that with Biden in charge, the U.S. will fall. For hours after this speech, his supporters looted and destroyed the Capitol building. Trump was impeached the following week, but his trial marked him not guilty. 

The attack has been compared to the attacks on September 11th, 2001 with comments made about how similar they are. A year later, over 700 U.S. citizens have been charged with crimes, creating the largest criminal investigation in United States history. 

In his recent speech, President Biden referenced the former president, Donald Trump, multiple times without using his name. He criticized Trump’s actions while in the office on January 6 and his actions during his term. 

Which I find to be justified. Trump wasn’t the best president, by far. He was impeached twice and allegedly encouraged the march via Twitter, although he was not charged. But there is a line that Biden shouldn’t have crossed. 

The president originally claimed that he would work to reunite the United States, but his speech only seemed to be dividing us more. 

He talked down on the Republican Party as a whole. Yes, there is quite a controversy between Democratic and Republican parties, as there always has been, but Biden didn’t need to put the blame on the party as a whole for the mistakes of a few.

“…too many others are transforming that party into something else. They seem no longer to want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes,” Biden said. 

He made sure to include that there are some “brave” members standing against the actions of Trump and the rest of the party, yet still generalizes. 

President Biden continued to repeat the same information, saying many times that this country voted Trump out of the office and that he needed to admit his loss. He referred to many of the actions and words of Trump as a “Big lie.” 

“The ‘Big lie’ being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, November 3, 2020,” the president elaborated. 

Biden put down the Republican party again by saying that they feared Trump’s wrath. I can’t guarantee if this is a true statement or not, but the assumption shouldn’t be made on national levels. 

Adding on, the reference to the election was once again brought up. Biden changed his topic and began talking about voting during the last election. This has absolutely nothing to do with the history of January 6, and instead just frustrations that Biden is having. He can address these in future speeches, but it would’ve been better had he actually tried to unite the country again. 

There were a few attempts that Biden made to make the U.S. feel a sense of unity. He used “our” and “we” phrases on multiple occasions, but there was no call to action. No real “we can get through this better,” just criticism. He was only able to succeed by talking about the opinions of countries that aren’t on good terms with America. 

“From China to Russia and beyond, they’re betting that democracy’s days are numbered. They actually told me democracy is too slow, too bogged down by division to succeed in today’s rapidly changing complicated world. And they’re betting, they’re betting America will become more like them and less like us,” Biden said. 

President Biden, so far, has had many chances, including this one, to reunite the country. But instead, he’s decided to just make the tear between Republicans and Democrats bigger and bigger. 

Although he has made some changes that benefit the country, like the inclusion of transgender citizens in the American military, he, like all presidents, has room for improvement. Hopefully, he will be able to mend the tear during his next speech.